Hector Update and NEW fosters!

Heard from the vet yesterday regarding Hector’s blood tests. He said for the most part they were “unremarkable” which is good, but her fat levels were a bit high. I had been feeding her a bit more seed than usual with Magoo here, so we are wondering if (hopefully) it is just a result of that.

He wants Hector on a very restricted diet for 30 days. Basically she can eat non-starchy veggies and parrot pellets. No nuts! She is not a happy girl, but I’m trying. I bought a ton of fresh veggies today and made her a fresh chop. She at least picked at it. I feel bad she doesn’t understand what is going on. Hopefully, blood work in 30 days will be back to normal and I can adjust her diet and give her back some fun treats!


In other news, I picked up new fosters this afternoon! I was supposed to foster a rat that needed some extra TLC, but apparently the poor rat was in worse shape than they originally thought and he had to be euthanized. The shelter asked if I would be willing to take on some mice.  Apparently over 1000 mice were just taken in by another local shelter, and the other shelters in the area are all trying to take some to help.

Thelma and Louise are on pregnancy watch, so they can’t be adopted yet. One of them looks pretty round to me, the other not so much. We’ll see what happens. I wouldn’t be surprised to see baby mice any day now, exciting! Of course I’ll share more info as I have it. 

Hector Goes to the Vet

It’s been too long since Hector has had a check up. I’ve known this for a while, but have hesitated for various reasons, my Avian vet is an hour away, the mobile vet I found is super expensive, she seems fine and healthy, I don’t want to put her through the stress of a vet visit, etc.

With having two foster birds in the last few months, it made me think about the fact that Hector isn’t getting any younger. In fact, she’ll be 32 in January.

When I met the adoptive parents for the last cockatoo I had, they mentioned an Avian vet that is only 20 minutes from me. I decided it was time Hector had a check up. After having that thought, I also started realizing that Hector was drinking a bit more than usual.

I called the new vet earlier this week, and they were able to get me in this morning. The vet was awesome! I am shocked at how well behaved Hector was for him. Hector steps up for me, when she feels like it. She lets me scratch her head, when she feels like it. Today she just did whatever that vet asked of her like it was nothing. It was almost like she realized there was no point in fighting this guy. He was going to do what he wanted, and she should just cooperate. I half expected the poor vet to end up with bloody fingers, but no, Hector was an angel.

The vet said she looked great from the visual exam, but birds are good at hiding things. Considering how long it had been since she had a check up (about 10 years) we decided to do blood work, and a urinalysis. The vet said they usually have to do a mild tranquilizer to do the blood draw, but Hector was perfect for that as well and didn’t have to be sedated!



It turns out the Bird Street Bistro food that I’ve been feeding might not be the best base food for Hector now that she is getting older. The vet wants to wait until we get all the test results back, and then he will give me more specific diet feedback. As she is getting older, less grains and pastas is probably going to be a healthier choice for Hector. She’s not going to be happy about that!

Books say captive grays average life expectancy is about 50 years, but I’ve always found that a bit hard to believe in my personal experience. I asked this vet what he thought about average life expectancy for greys. The first thing he asked me was if I knew about Dr. Pepperberg and Alex the parrot and if I had read her book, which I have. He reminded me that Alex had the very best of care all his life, and he lived to be 34. He said in his experience anything beyond the 30s is rare. He said a 40 year old African Grey is like a 90 year old man. It happens, but it’s not the most common thing. I’m having a really hard time processing that thought.

I’ll update when I get test results.

The Hardest Part of Fostering…

I think any foster parent would agree that the hardest part of fostering is saying good bye!

The house is really quiet today. The extra cage has been cleaned and moved to the garage to be returned to the shelter. Spare toys and perches are drying on a towel after being cleaned.

On Saturday, I brought Magoo back to the shelter to go home with his new parents. They seem like lovely people, and Magoo really seemed to like them. I was able to meet them and introduce them to Magoo a couple of weeks ago. I miss his little baby voice yelling “hello” and “Scratch Head!” but I do feel like I did the right thing letting him go.

We like to travel, and we are very lucky that Hector D. Byrd does OK with alone time. She enjoys our company, no doubt about that, but she is also fine with daily visits and background music when we go away for a few days. With Magoo already being nervous and plucking, us traveling isn’t great for him. His new home has people that are home a lot and other birds to keep him company.

Another reason I feel good about him moving on, I didn’t realize until his new people picked him up. Apparently, he stepped right up for the new people, and he never really wanted to step up for me. He liked me, he let me pat his head, but I realized when I saw him with his new people, that he hadn’t chosen me. Birds are really picky, and they know who they like.

When the new people came to meet Magoo, he really liked them. He talked to them, he had them scratch his head, and he even kept yelling “Bye Bye” when they left.

I really enjoy fostering. I get to know different animals, and I get to help them acclimate to home life. It frees up shelter space for another animal in need. With Magoo being adopted, I’ve got room for another foster whenever the right new friend comes along! I miss you already Magoo, but I’m so happy that you seem to have found new people to spend the rest of your life with!

One other note, parrot food related. I have talked about Bird Street Bistro, a food I use daily and love. The people that adopted Magoo introduced me to a new parrot food that I’m really excited about called Avian Naturals. They make several different mixes, some can just be fed straight from the bag, others you add an equal amount of hot water, let it sit, and feed when it cools a bit. The thing I love about these mixes is that they are full of dried veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds. Bird Street Bistro is awesome, but it is very grain-heavy. I always supplement it with other fruits and veggies. My plan now is to use both of these foods, so that Hector gets a nice balanced mix of fruits and veggies instead of me just feeding her whatever we have.  Avian Naturals has great deals on their samples. You can order 1/4 baggies of their mixes to try out. I ordered four of their mix with water blends, and 4 of the just feed it straight blends. So far Hector’s favorite is the “Comet’s Grain Free Mix” which is one of the mixes that is fed directly, and it is full of bits of nuts, veggies, fruits, and seeds. It’s a perfect addition to her normal Bird Street Bistro mix. 

I usually feed Hector in the morning, then she has free choice pellets always available, and she gets bites of any fruits and veggies that I’m eating or cooking with throughout the day. The mix with water blend from Avian Naturals feels like it could be a great afternoon snack since I can just mix up a tablespoon of it anytime and give Hector a nice, warm treat!

What do you feed your pet birds? I’m always interested in trying new things!